William a



W. A. BUTLER.

TIE PLATE AND RAIL FASTENER.

APPLICATION man MAY 23, 1921.

Patented Oct. 4, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET l- W. A. BUTLER. TIE PLATE AND RAIL FASTENER.

APPLlCATlON FILED MAY 23, I921.

Patented Oct. 4, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ELF ll WZZZLZZITIBLZZZQI, 3mm

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. BUTLER, 0F PORSTMOUTH, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNCR OF ONE-HALF" TOWILLIAM J'QBEALE; OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.

TIE-PLATE AND RAIL-FASTENER.

Application filedMay 23, 1921.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM A. BUTLER, a citizenof the United States,residing at Portsmouth, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia,have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements 1n Tle-Plates and,

and the primary object of the invention is to provide a novel tie platefor forming a seat for-the rails to prevent undue wear or injury to theties, and a novel fastener and brace associated with the tie plates foreffectively holding the rails against displace ment or creeping.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tie plate having struckin teeth formed in the upper and lower surfaces thereof, the tie. platehaving slots bisecting the teeth, and fasteners slidably associatedwiththe plate having locking teeth formed on their upper surfaces forengaging-the teeth on the lower surface of the plate, and fasteningbolts carried by the fastening members and slidably mounted in saidslots, the heads of. the bolts having teeth formed thereon arranged toengage the teeth formed on the lower surface of the tie plate.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel type of bracefor use in connection with the tie plate including a base'member forengaging the teeth formed on the tie plate, and an upwardly 'inclinedbody portion for engaging the web and'ball of the rails;

Astill further object is to provide a novel the market and incorporatedwith ties of any preferred type, at a minimum cost.

With thesewand other objects in view, the inventionconsistsrin the novelconstruction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will behereinaftermore specifically described,

claimed and illustrated in the accompanying.

drawings: forming a part of this specification, in whlch drawlngs-zFigure Lisa-plan view'of a tie, showing the improved tie plates andfasteners inco porate 5 therew h, por ions, of the fas- Specifieation'ofLetters Patent.

Serial No. 471,902.

teners being shown in section on one end of the tie.

F g. 2 is a side elevation of a tie showing the lmproved tie plate andfasteners incorporated therewith, one of the tie plates and its rallfastener being shown in section.

Fig. 3 1s a transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

F1g. at is a plan view' of a tie showing a slightly modified form of mytie plate incorporated therewith, one of the fastening membersassociated with one of. the tits plates being shown in section.

F 1g. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 5-5 ofFig.4.

F1g. 6 is a detail perspective view of a fastener, which is adapted tobe utilized with the tie plate, and

Flg. 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the brace members, whichalso can be utlhzed with the tie plate.

Referring to the drawings in detail,

wherein similar 'reference characters designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views, the letters A and B indicate respectlvelya tie plate and fastener, which can be effectively used with concreteties, the tiebei'ng designated in Figs. 1 to 3 by the letter C. While Ihave shown the tie C of concrete, 1t lsto be understood that the tieplate A and fasteners B can be effectively used with other types ofties, and in fact I have shown in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings, aslightly modified form of tie plate designated bv the letter D which canbe effectively used wlth wooden ties, which are designated by the letterE. i

The tie C can be formed in any preferred manner, and as shown includesthe body 10, which can be strengthened if so desired, withlongitudinally extending rods or brace wires. Thetie C is adapted toreceive the usual type of rails 11, and the tie plates A are disposedbetween the rails and the tie. Directly below the tie plates A, theupper surface of the tie is provided with grooves or ways 12, for apurpose which will be hereinafter more fully described. These ways 12can extend beyond the tie plates A. if so desired. The tie plates A arepreferably formed'of metal of the desired thickness, and can be providedwith openings 12, adjacent to their corners, for the reception of boltslf-i, which extend" through? the tie (J;

Patented Oct. 4, 1921.

upwardly projectin The upper ends of these bolts are adapted to receivesuitable nuts 14, which can be of the castle type, if so desired. Thetie plates A, as shown, are provided with struck in teeth 15, which formcorrugations bothon the upper and lower surfaces thereof.

These struck in teeth form corrugations both in the upper and lowersurface of the tie plate A as stated and form a guide way for the heads16 of bolts 17, which are utilized for holding the rail fasteners B inposition, as will be hereinafter more fully described. As shown thecorrugations or teeth on the upper surface of the tie plate A projectabove the plane of the tie plate, but if so desired, the same may extendflush with the upper surface ofthe tie plate. In- Wardly extending slots18 are formedin the opposite. side edges of the tie plates, andbi- Isect the struck in'tooth portions 15 of the tie plates, and these slots18 form guide ways for receiving the bolts 17.

' The rail fasteners B each include a body 20, .theilower surface ofwhich is provided with transversely extending teeth or corrugations 21'.which are adapted to engage the corrugations or teeth formed on orstruck V out fro'mthe upper surface of the'tie plates shoulders 22 formmeans for preventing spreading and twisting of the rails, while the lugs21 prevent tilting of the rails.

The body portions 20 of. the rail fasteners Bare provided withopenings23, which are in direct alinement with the slots 18 formed in thetieplates, and these openings are adapted to slidably receive the bolts 17.The upper'ends of the bolts 17 are adapted to receive nuts 25, which canbe of the castle type if so desired. These nuts 25 form means forholding the rail fasteners in position on the tie plates in relation tothe base flanges of therails 11.- It can be seen that by providing thestruck out teeth or corrugations, movement of the rail fasteners inrelation to the tie lates A or the'rails 11 is absolutely prec uded. Thebolts 17 are slidably mounted in the slots 18 to permit adjustment ofthe rail fasteners toward or away from the base flanges of the rails.

In use of the improved tie plates and fasteners, the plates are.arranged on the upper surface of the ties, and are held in position bythe bolts 13. The rails 11 are then laid on the upper surface of theplates, after i which the bolts 17 are placed in the opening 23 of therail fasteners, and the bolts are then slid into the slots 18. Thefasteners are then moved into operative position in re lation to thebase flanges of the rails, after which the nuts are tightened whichbring the corrugations or toothed portion 21 of the body portion 20 ofthe rail fasteners B into engagement with the teeth or corrugationsformed on the upper surface of the tie plates A.

It is preferred that the heads 16 of the bolts 17 also be provided withcorrugations 26 so as to engage the corrugations or teeth formed on thelower surface of the tie plates A. This forms a second means forabsolutely precluding movement of the fasteners in relation to the tieplates A and the rails 11. While I have shown four bolts 13 forconnecting each of the tie plates to the tie C, I do not limit myself tothis exact number of bolts, as it can be readily seen that more or lessbolts can be utilized for holding the tie plates in position.

In Figs i and 5 is shown a tie plate D which is particularly adaptablefor use with wooden ties E, but it is to be understood that the tieplate D is susceptible of use with other types of ties.

As shown the tie E is of the ordinary form, with the exception that theupper surface thereof adjacent to its opposite ends is provided withgrooves or guide ways 30, which are out of alinement with each other,and which lie on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the tie.This tie plate D is constructed exactly like the tie plate A, with theexception that only the opposite diagonal corners thereof are providedwith openings 31 instead of all fpur corners thereof. The provision ofonly two open ings in the tie plate D eliminates the necessity of makinga plurality of openings in the tie E, and as shown each end of the tieis only provided with two openings for the reception of the fasteningbolts The arrangement of the fastening bolts 32 at the opposite diagonalcorners of the tie plates D absolutely precludes twisting movement ofthe plates on the tie. It can be seen that in this form of tie plate,the teeth portions thereof, which are designated by the numeral33, andthe slotted portions thereof designated'by' the numeral 34, are arrangedon the opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the tie plate anddirectly over the guide ways .30 formed in the upper surface of the tieE. Thus the fasteners B in this instance, engage the rails at points outof transverse alinement, which also prevents spreading and twistingmovement of the rails. Otherwise the association of the fasteners B withthe tie plates D is exactly the same as the means of associating thefasteners B with the tie plates A.

In some instances, it is desirable to utilize brace members inconnection with the tie plates, such as on curved tracks or the like,and to conform with these instances, brace members F are provided. Thesebrace mem bers F include body portions 35, which are provided withopenings 36 for receiving the fastening bolts 17. The lower surface ofthe body portions 35 is provided with corrugations 37 for engaging thecorrugations or teeth formed on the upper surface of the tie plates. Theinner transverse edges of the body portions 35 of the braces F areprovided with inwardly and upwardly extending transversely curved arms38, which are adapted to overlie and engage the base flanges of therails. The inner surfaces of these arms 38 abut against the webs of therails and engage under the balls thereof. Thus it can be seen that thesame forms an effective brace for the rails.

It is to be of course understood that the brace members F are to beassociated with the tie plates exactly in the same manner as thefasteners B.

From the foregoing description, it can be seen that a novel form of atie and fastener has been provided, which will effectively hold therails in position against lateral shifting movement, and protect theties against undue wear by the contacting of the rails therewith. I

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit orscope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a tie plate and rail fastener, a rectangular shaped tie platearranged to fit upon the upper surface of the tie and adapted to receivea railroad rail, the opposite side edges of the plate having in wardlyextending slots formed therein, and struck in teeth formed in the upperand lower surfaces of the plate on each side of the slots, membersadjustable over the upper surface of the tie plate arranged to engagethe rail, teeth formed on the lower surface of the member arranged toengage the teeth formed on the upper surface of the tie plate, boltscarried by the member slidably mounted in the slots, heads formed on thelower ends of the bolts, corrugations formed on said bolt heads arrangedto engage the teeth formed on the lower surface of the plate, and nutscarried by the bolts arranged to frictionally engage the upper surfaceof said members.

2. The combination with a railroad tie having guide grooves formed inthe upper surface thereof adjacent to its opposite ends, of tie platesfitted on the upper surface of the tie adjacent to its ends, the tieplates having inwardly extending slots formed in the opposite sidesedges thereof arranged in alinement with the guide grooves, guide waysformed in the lower surface of the tie plates arranged to aline with thegrooves, and being of substantially the same width as the grooves,struck in teeth formed on the tie plates in said guide ways, teethformed on the upper surface of the plates, members slidably carried bythe top surface of the plates arranged for movement toward and away froma rail, bolts carried by the members slidably mounted in the slots,heads formed on the bolts fitted in the grooves and guide ways formed onthe plates and arranged to engage the teeth in said guide ways, meansfor holding the bolts in position, and teeth formed on the lower surfaceof the members arranged to engage the teeth formed on the upper surfaceof the tie plates.

3. A tie plate comprising a flat substantially rectangular body havingguide ways struck up from the lower surface thereof, the guide wayshaving inwardly extending slots formed therein, the plate having boltreceiving openings formed therein adjacent to the corners thereof, andteeth struck up in said guide ways forming corrugations in the upper andlower surfaces of the plate.

WILLIAM A. BUTLER.

